There are many ways to get rid of fire ants. You can use a mixture of sugar and borax. Pour the mixture around the ant hills, and the ants will carry it inside the colony, killing it off. Another solution is the sugar substitute, Equal or Nutri-Sweet. These have been known to be poisonous to ants. Just pour it around the hill and you will see little any bodies laying around in a couple days. Like the others have said, if it's garden ants let them be - unless it's a huge infestation. Here is a link that might be useful: Ants In The Vegetable Garden

What works best for me is one of the insecticides that you broadcast in a fertilizer spreader. Do the entire yard at the same time, or they just pack up their children and move. It lasts for several months. I, too, have noticed that when you put the insecticide on the bed (it's not always a mound; sometimes they are underground), they seem to ignore it. When I have a particularly persistent bed, I dig it up with a shovel, and spray them with an ant killer. Be very careful if you do this. If you're not paying attention, they will be up your pants leg before you know it. I try to get the queen when I do this (she's the one with wings).

Hello Everyone, You are all right. All your methods work. We all fall into the trap of it doesn't work anymore. OR 24 hrs and they are back. All I can say is you have to look at your situation and be smart. If you live in an apartment, expect roaches. If you live near a restaurant, expect rats. If you live in a house with landscape, expect spiders, ants and mice. Bottom line. MICE: Look around before you open the door, and don't leave your doors open. Make your screen doors snug around the edges. Try to screen off your roof vents or openings with metal screen. Plug up holes with steel wool. Leave traps up year round and eventually they will be gone. If not for good, a long time. An old building was demolished across our street and it took a year to get rid of them as they were looking for a new home. Been there!! ANTS: Its not just you.....what about your neighbor. My neighbor was collecting soda bottles outside his house as I discovered.......which created a SUGAR ANT SUPER COLONY. Guess where they decided to live?....That's right!!! in my garden. Borax and sugar bombs worked great. However, they were only control devices. We had to open up the ground and burst the colony, then spray. We left bombs inside and out, as well as next to all the ant ports. Eventually.......gone. But.....they are never gone, so don't be fooled. We also used bates of three Brand names....only temporary. Borax bombs worked best. ECO SPRAY Seems to do a good job. We also use peppermint and lemon essential oil as a spray to finish coat on our counters and other areas where they might wonder. Just a quick coat before we go to bed and no visitors in the morning. They hate that stuff and so do spiders. The spray mix so far does not damage anything. We use consumable essential oil...in other words we can eat it. If you need help getting some, I can direct you where to get it. We noticed in our new home that we had a different kind of ant. A protein ant as others have stated. So we left some ice cream on the counter all night for two days. Not a single ant. But, when we used a frying pan, and even washed it.....they came to visit again. Soooo............here are some tips. Ask the correct questions first. What are they going after? How big are they? What is our weather like? Where are they located? (Kitchen, Bathroom, Shower). Can I trace the ant trail outside? Do I think the nest is inside? Once you have done that...take it from there. SPIDERS: They really are a pain. Lots of trees? Lots of spiders. Lots of junk? Lots of spiders. And so on. Don't give them a home or opportunity, and you wont have a problem. Lemon pledge, Lemon and peppermint essential oil spray, keeping your house orderly, and window sills clear will help a lot. We use our diffuser with essential oils and they don't seem to appear anymore. I leave essential oils in bottle caps under the couch, closet and hidden corners, and again no appearances. Determine what type of spider you have the most in the same way you did with the ants. Sometimes they are just lost checking out your house and trying on your shoes!! (Joking) Do some reading and try different things. I read once where a couple had a super spider invasion and could not get rid of them. They were in everything and everywhere. When any pest problem gets to this level.............call a professional. ****No matter how you slice it....you share space with all of these creatures because your dwelling is on the ground somehow, and someway. You don't have to kill every spider you see...just keep it from coming in. You get what you put into it!! Bottom line. If you want to get rid of them....you have to go the extra mile. If you go the extra mile as I did when I dug up the ant colonies.......you get the big results. Like everything else in your house............its work. And it has to be done. And remember...the BUGMAN is like your Auto Mechanic.....do you think he will tell you everything!!??? It's up to you!!!!! Good Luck.

Living in Texas, I don't know of a permanent solution other than living with them, or constantly using a bait or other ant killer. Last year, just about every one of my containers had ants. As a short term solution, I would combine two of the methods listed above. Bare-root the tree and spray the ants with a sharp stream of water. You may damage a few roots, but your tree won't miss them. Afterwards, soak the root mass in a bucket of water. The second step will flush out the ants (and more specifically, the queen, if they have bored into the trunk under the basal flare (yes, they sometimes do that). You will want to soak for a couple of hours. To prevent the ants from infesting your containers to begin with, you can set your container on something and treat whatever it's sitting on. For example, my containers were on two strips of treated wood to keep them off the ground. One could soak the wood in an ant killer, or smear it with Tanglefoot or petroleum jelly to prevent the ants from crossing into the container. In order for something like this to be successful,however, you would have to make sure the top of the tree doesn't touch anything else and that grass around the container doesn't come in contact with it. Those ants will find anything they can to use as a bridge. Or you would have to effectively control the entire yard. Whatever you do... do NOT plunge your hand into the growing medium without checking for ants. It's been two weeks since I forgot that rule and my right hand is still swollen. ~james